GIEVES & HAWKES SS18 COLLECTION

This season, Gieves & Hawkes’s ready-to-wear collection is inspired by the glamour of the English summer sporting season and its unique sense of style. The easy, rugged elegance of aristocrats, royals and young sporting gentlemen forms a starting point for a collection that channels a particularly British sense of cool.

A palette of fresh, confident colours moves our house look beyond summer’s conventional pastels into a richer, more masculine space. The quintessential pairing of sky blue and pink is threaded through the collection’s casual and formalwear, grounded by touches of classic sporting colours; polo red, racing green and buttercup yellow. The result is clothing that feels playful yet sophisticated. Tailoring is grounded in timeless shades of English navy, beige and tan, with touches of complementary copper and khaki in knitwear and accessories.

Suiting retains its position at the heart of the collection, with designs inspired by the wardrobe of the young, sporting Prince Charles. Earthy checks with a retro quality are worked into crisp twopiece suits. Cool, lightweight worsteds are used in office-appropriate tailoring, while designs cut
in neutral linens offer a relaxed alternative. Standout pieces include a softly structured two-piece royal blue seersucker suit and a distinguished fawn club checked suit, cut with a sharp silhouette and broad notched lapels that take a complete repeat of the check.

Casualwear is similarly sporty. Relaxed block stripes in light colours reference the uniforms of British horse racing, polo and rugby teams, and this season sees luxurious long sleeved crewnecks and polo shirts layered beneath lightweight jackets with an aristocratic bearing. The cricket jumper has also been revisited, realised in a cream chunky-knit with playful pink borders along the neckline and hem. This season’s bombers and blousons reference athletic windbreaker jackets in treated cotton and lightweight technical fabrics. Alongside these, classic macs in neutral cottons, practical tailored chinos and finely striped summer T-shirts round out the collection.

Eveningwear is playful and has received the same treatment as our suiting. Silk jacquard smoking jackets in blue and bronze are paired with linen dress trousers and simple fine-gauge knits for a breezy look that hints at the dress codes of post-match champagne receptions and garden parties. The subtle monogram patterns on chinos, polos and knitwear is yet another a subtle nod to classic sportswear.

This season’s campaign reflects this sense of quiet confidence. Shot on location in the quaint coastal town of Aldeburgh, the historic home to renowned composer Benjamin Britten, the Gieves man finds himself at home either as a guest at Britten’s elegant country cottage, or strolling through Aldeburgh’s cobbled streets down towards the pebbled beach.

As eloquent, polished and quintessentially British as Britten’s compositions, the Gieves & Hawkes SS18 collection is a contemporary ode to English sportsmanship and sartorial sensibility.